How Caius Blue became the Cambridge colour

In December, Engineering Fellow and fount of all Caius knowledge, Dr Michael Wood wrote to the Editor of the Daily Telegraph to get the story straight about the origins of the Cambridge Blue.

His letter, published in the newspaper on 24 December 2018, replied to an article entitled ‘How Eton Blue became the Cambridge colour’, which stated, correctly, that ‘Cambridge Blue has its roots in the second Boat Race, held in 1836.’

In his letter, Dr Wood wrote:

‘Sir – there were three Caius men in the Cambridge boat of 1836. Tradition has it that they called for R N Phillips to get a light blue ribbon to correspond with the colour of the well established flag of the Caius College Boat Club. The nearest haberdashers only had Eton Blue, which was purchased and used.

Cambridge won by 20 lengths. After this, the University Boat Club asked whether the university could take over the colour. The college graciously agreed, so the university light blue is actually Caius Blue. We still carry the light blue stripe on our blades.’